Push and Pull
by nashvillefan12
Summary: Rayna and Deacon overcome obstacles to be together.


Deacon is lying in his bed, his arms wrapped around a gorgeous woman. He falls into a deep sleep and begins to dream. He envisions his hands running up and down Rayna's naked body and kissing her passionately. They fall onto the bed and make love. She calls out his name, her voice barely above a whisper. "Deacon."

Back to reality, he is laying in bed. His dream is interrupted with the sound of the woman next to him calling his name "Deacon, Deacon." She says. Deacon opens his eyes. She is sprawled out on her side of the bed. His eyes began to focus and he looks startled as he begins to recognize the woman's face. It's Stacy. He grumbles under his breath. "Su, wants to go out." She informs him. Deacon looks down at the yellow labs head resting on his side of bed. The dog begins to whine. Deacon throws the covers off and stumbles, barely awake. He reaches for his shirt and heads out the door with the dog.

He leashes the dog and sits down on the front steps of his porch. He rests his head in his hands and sighs. He couldn't shake how real this dream had felt. Why was he dreaming of Rayna when he was with Stacy he wondered. Rayna was available now after her recent divorce but Deacon wasn't about to go get his heart broken again. His relationship with Stacy was less complicated and he found that refreshing. He never thought he could love someone as much as he loved Rayna but then Stacy came along. She by no means replaced Rayna in his heart but she made him happy and that's all that he needed right now. Deacon allowed the dog to do his business and then returned inside.

He made himself a cup of coffee and sat down on the couch. He grabbed his guitar and started strumming a few chords. He heard the bedroom door open and Stacy coming down the hallway. "Ugh." She groaned. He could now see her, her hands were pressed firmly over her ears. "What is that?" she asked horrified. It was his country music she hated so much. It used to bother him that she didn't have a taste for what he loved most but now it amused him. A smile creased his face. "Just toying around with a new song." He said. He always seemed to write songs about Rayna and this morning after that vivid dream was one of those days. "Would you like some breakfast?" she offered hoping food would take his mind off his work that made her ears bleed. He put his guitar down and met her in the kitchen. "You know, you should come back on the road with me." She began to set the table. "My job is here. I can't leave." He leaned on the island in the middle of the kitchen. "You might actually fall in love with country music if you're around it enough." She felt guilty for poking fun at something he was so passionate about. She turned to face him. She placed her hand on his cheek. "I already fell in love with you." That was the first time either one of them had admitted they loved each other. A big grin lit up Deacon's face. "You love me?" he asked excited and surprised. "Yeah, I mean I think I proved that to you last night." He leaned in and kissed her. "I love you too."

Across town Rayna was packing her suitcase. She had her radio on and she hummed along as she placed shoes and clothes in her suitcase laid out on her bed. The song began to change on the radio, she recognized the sound of the guitar. It was Deacon. Then she heard her vocals. It was a song that they wrote years ago but recently recorded. It was about love and passion. It was about their relationship. It was them and their feelings for one another. Rayna recalled writing the song. They were up at Deacon's cabin in the middle of the woods when the big storm blew through knocking out the power. It was a hot Summer night and neither one of them were wearing much of anything. They decided to make the most of the night. They had sex in every inch of that small secluded cabin. In the morning, they both woke up, Deacon grabbed his guitar and she scribbled on a notebook as she sang along. It was one of the best nights either one of them had.

Rayna's thoughts of that night with Deacon were interrupted with the sound of her cell phone ringing. She reached for her phone and answered it. "Rayna, did you hear the new song on the radio?" Marshall asked. "I just heard it." Rayna said. "This one is going to be a big hit I can feel it. It gives me an idea for a new music video. We'll start planning everything when you get back from your tour this week. We gotta start shooting this thing and get it out there while the song is still hot." Marshall said real enthused. "Yeah, sounds good. I can't wait." Rayna said wondering what exactly he had in mind. She knew what the song meant for her and Deacon but what did Marshall envision when he heard the song she wondered.

A few hours later, Rayna was sitting on the jet waiting for take-off. Deacon strolled in late as usual. He offered Rayna a friendly smile but tried to avoid eye contact with her because the dream was still on his mind. "Hey sorry I'm late." He took his seat. He pulled out his phone and decided to text Stacy to keep his mind off the dream. His face lit up as he read Stacy's reply back. She had admitted she loved him that morning. The smile never left his face. Rayna got up once they were in flight and walked over to Deacon. "What are you so happy about?" Rayna asked noticing his smile. He jumped at the sound of her voice. "Did you hear the song on the radio today?" she asked. "No, I rarely have the radio on at my house." He replied. She looked at him confused. "Since when? You always have the radio blaring when I'm there." He looks down at his phone. "Oh right, I forgot Stacy doesn't allow you to listen to country music." She said as she rolled her eyes. He shrugs his shoulders as if it doesn't bother him. "Well Marshall called this morning and he wants to meet with us when we get back about doing a music video." She sees he is avoiding eye contact with her and he is fidgeting with his phone. "Hello? Are you even listening to me?" she asked annoyed. "Yeah, music video, got it." He replies. Rayna returned to her seat pissed off at the way Deacon just dismissed her as if she wasn't even there.

They arrive in San Diego and settled in their hotel rooms for the night. The next morning Rayna made her way down to the stage for sound check. Liam greeted her with a big hug and a kiss on the cheek. Deacon walked in shortly after and stood in the doorway. Liam, who was still hugging Rayna whispered in her ear. "What's baby daddy doing here?" Rayna escaped from the hug and turned to face Deacon. She walked over to the doorway he was leaning up against. "Hey what are you doing here? Come to apologize?" she asked. "Apologize?" he asked stunned. "You were pretty rotten yesterday on the plane ride. I was just trying to give you the run down on what Marshall said and you acted like you were ignoring me. Everything okay?" she asked concerned. He began to talk in his sarcastic and angry tone. "Yeah, Ray, everything is fine. Why are you always asking me that? It's like you're always breathing down my neck." He decides it's best to cover up his feelings with anger. He doesn't want her to find out about his dream. She stood there shocked to hear him trying to turn this on her. "Well when you get on edge like this it scares me. You start acting out and then drown your sorrows in the bottom of a bottle of patron." He lets out a sigh of frustration. "This ain't 14 years ago, Rayna." He notices Liam setting up onstage as he starts making out with one of the roadies onstage. "I don't need your pity. Maybe you should go start your rehearsal. Looks like your boyfriend is getting anxious waiting." Rayna is furious. "Where is this coming from?" she asks confused. Deacon walks away from her.

The rest of the tour Deacon avoids her until they are forced to face each other on the plane ride home. Everyone on the plane is sleeping except for Deacon who keeps glancing over at Rayna. She looks so peaceful and he feels guilty for snapping at her the way he did but he doesn't dare let himself get close to her for fear of weakness. He likes the direction his relationship with Stacy is headed and he doesn't want to let his feelings for Rayna that he's kept inside for the last 14 years jeopardize that. He makes his way to the bathroom in the back of the plane. Rayna feels him breeze past her. She opens her eyes and notices Deacon heading to the bathroom. She knows he is angry with her but she wants to set the record straight. She gets up and heads to the back of the plane.

Deacon is in the bathroom splashing cool water on his face when he hears a knock at the door. He ignores it and stares at his reflection in the mirror until he hears another knock. He opens the door slightly to see who it is. Before he can shut the door again to avoid her, Rayna grabs the door and makes her way into the bathroom and shuts the door behind her. "What the hell, Ray?" he asks. The bathroom is small. He can feel the heat radiating off her body as they stand so close. He tries to put space between them but the room is too small. "Liam and I are not together." She informs him. "Okay?" he says confused. "That's why you're mad at me right? You think I'm seeing him?" she asks. "That's your business not mine." He shrugs. "Would you stop!" she smacks him in the chest. "I've had enough of your ego. One minute you're hot and the next you're cold. What is wrong with you?" she asks fed up. "I'm not doing this right now." He says reaching for the door handle. She places herself against the door. "We're not leaving this bathroom until you tell me what's going on with you. We have a daughter. That means as parents we need to communicate. If there's something bothering you, just tell me. We can fix it." She pleads. He looks into her eyes that are begging him for answers. He's caught up in the moment. He pushes her against the wall and kisses her. Her hands reach for the buttons on his shirt. This all feels like familiar territory to them. They've spent a lot of years having quickies in the bathrooms of planes. He starts to kiss her neck and then makes his way down to her breasts. She tugs at his belt as she starts to loosen it he realizes what he's doing and stops it from going any further. He is able to reach the door and leaves to return to his seat on the plane. Rayna is more confused than she was when she entered the bathroom. So many questions run through her head. She takes a minute to gather her thoughts and then returns to her seat. They avoid contact with each other the rest of the ride.

Deacon returns home to Stacy. It's late and they make their way to bed. "So how was your tour?" she asks. He stares into space. He loves Stacy and wants to be open and honest with her. He decides not to get into that night. "Hey you okay?" she asks. "Yeah, I'm just tired." He replies. "Okay, goodnight." She replies as she turns the light off and goes to sleep. He doesn't want to close his eyes for fear of having a reoccurring dream of Rayna.

The next day, Rayna and Deacon are forced to be in the same room to meet with Marshall about the music video. They sit at a long table. Rayna sits directly across from Deacon who has his arms crossed. Rayna is looking as beautiful as ever. He notices her glancing over at him trying to read him. They wait in the room alone as the big wigs gather in the hallway. They sit in silence for what feels like forever. Rayna can't stand the awkward silence any longer so she decides to speak. "Maddie said she text you last night." He takes a deep breath before replying. "Yeah, she mentioned having a movie night some night." He thinks he can handle this small talk as long as she doesn't ask how he is or what he's thinking. They return to silence trying to think of what to say to one another. They've never ran out of things to say but today they felt it was better to leave things unsaid. "How are things going with Scarlett? Last I heard she was in the process of recording her first demo." Deacon asked. "We have a rehearsal tonight. We've discussed recording her first single soon and getting it out there. She's way too talented for the world not to hear her voice." Deacon smiled. "She's something else." Rayna smiled back. "Just like her Uncle." Deacon let out a laugh.

The door to the room opened. Deacon moved his focus towards Marshall at the front of the room. "I'm very excited about this new song." Marshall said as he laid his briefcase on the table. "We've been on the phone all morning booking a location shoot. We already have a cast for this thing." He opens up his briefcase. "Here is the rundown for the video." He hands each of them a piece of paper. "The young girl is at a restaurant on a date when she sees this guy walk in and its love at first sight. He approaches her. The next thing we see him driving her home. They share a kiss on the front porch. He starts to leave. She follows him and they end up in the backseat of his car." Rayna wrinkles her nose. "That's not what the song is about at all." Deacon moves his glance to her. "It's about these two people who love each other so deeply they want to share their love with one another. They've had their shares of ups and downs and they finally have a chance to be together after overcoming all their obstacles." Deacon is taken in by her every word. He chimes in. "The only way they can overcome all this push and pull is to find the love they once had." Marshall smiles. "I love it. You two of you are so passionate about your work. I'm going to cancel the cast. You both know the meaning of the song so well, it wouldn't be portrayed right if we didn't have you two as the lead cast. I'll write up a new rundown and we'll start shooting this weekend." He grabs his briefcase and heads out the door.

Rayna and Deacon sit there unsure of what just happened. Rayna's phone rings. Once she hangs up he sees the disappointment on her face. "Is it the girls?" he asks. "My babysitter got sick and can't watch the girls tonight. I'm going to have to cancel my rehearsal with Scarlett." She picks up her phone to start dialing Scarlett's number. He grabs the phone out of her hand. "No, no, no. I'll watch the girls. Scarlett has been looking forward to this day. You go to your rehearsal. I'll come over to the house tonight." He assures her. "You sure?" she asks. "Yeah, the girls and I can have our movie night. It'll be fun." She smiles at him. "Okay I'll see you at six." She walks out the door.

That night Deacon arrives at the house. "Okay girls, I'm leaving. You be good for Deacon." She instructs them as they rush over to hug her goodbye. "Bye Mom. Have fun." Maddie says. "You too Sweetie." Rayna turns her attention to Deacon. "There are plenty of snacks in the house, just not a lot of sugar before bedtime. Make sure they brush their teeth." Rayna begins to rant. "Ray, I got this." Deacon stops her. "Call me if-" she starts to say. "Go." He says holding the door open.

When Rayna returns home the TV is on and the girls are fast asleep on the couch. She hears a loud snore coming from Deacon who is also asleep on the couch. She grabs the remote and turns the TV off. She decides to let them all sleep. She heads upstairs and crawls into bed. The next morning she is the first one to get up. She makes her way downstairs and makes a pot of coffee. Deacon smells the aroma and joins her in the kitchen. They both whisper, trying not to disturb the girls. "What time is it?" he asks half asleep. "8am." She replies. His eyebrows raise in shock. "Ya'll were sleeping when I came home last night." Deacon rubs his head. "You let me spend the night here? You know how that's going to look when I get home to Stacy?" He walks to the door and starts putting on his shoes. "It's not like anything happened. You came over to see the girls." Rayna replied following him. "Stacy is my girlfriend, Ray." He replies. "It didn't seem like you cared whether you had a girlfriend or not when you kissed me on the plane the other day. Hell, you couldn't even keep your hands off me. We were practically undressing each other until you ran off with no explanation. Is that when you remembered you had a girlfriend waiting at home? Do you plan on explaining that one to her too?" Deacon reached for the door knob. "I'm going to be honest with her." He started to get into his truck. Rayna stood on the porch yelling at Deacon. "Well good luck with that. You let me know how that goes for you." He drives off.

The weekend approaches quickly. They ride about 4 hours on the tour bus. Rayna remains on one end of the tour bus while Deacon stays on the other. They arrive on the set of the music video. They don't speak to one another but they listen to Marshall. "I've been thinking about this a lot after hearing your feedback and I think I've come up with the perfect story to tell." He continues. "We open up to Rayna in the bathroom putting on her lingerie she bought for your night together. You both want to make this a special night. She glances at herself in the mirror and we see all the obstacles you two have overcome reflect back at her. She walks out to the livingroom where we see Deacon sitting on the couch. He can't take his eyes off of you. He starts kissing you and then sweeps you off your feet. He carries you into the bedroom. The closing scene we see the two of you rolling around in the sheets." A woman grabs Rayna's arm. "Ms. Jaymes, we have to get you changed into your lingerie for the opening." She drags Rayna off to a private dressing room.

Rayna puts the tiny outfit on. She takes a look in the mirror. She wishes she was 20 years younger like she was when she wrote this song but she doesn't look half bad for her age. There was a knock on Rayna's door. She opened it. "Ms. Jaymes we need you on set." The woman said dragging Rayna down the hall. Deacon was nowhere on set. They placed Rayna behind a wall to make it look like she was in another room. "Deacon, lose the shirt please. Sex sells." Rayna heard the woman say behind the wall. "Okay we open to Rayna in the bathroom." The director says before calling action. Rayna glances at herself in the mirror as she is scripted to do. "Cut. Rayna that was perfect. Moving on. Next scene we have Rayna exiting the bathroom and she catches Deacon's eye." They set the scene up. The director calls action again. Rayna grabs the door knob to the prop door. Her heart races. This would be the first time she's made eye contact with Deacon since they've fought. She knew he was angry with her. She walks out to the set's livingroom. Deacon and Rayna share a look. He is captivated by her beauty and the little of nothing she is wearing. They forget they are acting. The director yells cut. "That look said so much. Country music fans are going to eat this up. Crew, set up for the kiss. Camera one will follow the action." Deacon's eyes run down Rayna's body. The director calls action. Deacon stands up from the couch and walks over to Rayna. He runs his fingers through her hair. She touches his cheek with her palm. Deacon freezes just before he is supposed to kiss her. Rayna sees how uncomfortable he looks. She looks at the director. "Cut. What seems to be the problem?" the director asks. "Can we take 5 please?" Rayna asks. "Of course, Ms Jaymes. Everyone take five please."

Rayna walks over to the water cooler and pours herself a glass of water. She figures Deacon needs some space to gather his thoughts before they have to run the kissing scene. They all return to the set. The director calls places. They redo the scene. This time Rayna is surprised Deacon kisses her. She grabs his muscular arms and runs her hands over them. He picks her up and carries her until the director yells cut again. The next scene Deacon lays her down on the bed as he continues kissing her. The director yells cut once more. They both grasp for air. "This is better than I envisioned. There's so much chemistry between you two." Marshall calls from off the set. They run the final scene. They are rolling around in bed. The director yells cut. "That's a wrap. You two certainly have a lot of talent and a lot of chemistry that's going to show through in this video." For a second Rayna thinks Deacon has forgotten their recent fight. The way he kissed her, she wants to believe he has gotten over his negative attitude. "We'll have a premiere party for this video once it's edited. It's going to be big. Good work you two." Marshall says. "Are we done here?" Deacon asks returning to his negative attitude. "Yes, thank you." Marshall says. Deacon grabs his shirt and walks off set in a hurry.

Rayna returns to her dressing room to change. She feels so hurt the way Deacon stormed off on her once again with no explanation. She is about to change when she hears a knock at the door. She opens it. It's Deacon. "Hey." She says. He sees the hurt in her eyes. He walks in without a word and closes the door behind him. She watches him pace back and forth. "What are you-" she asks confused. Before she can complete her sentence he kisses her. He slides his unbuttoned shirt off his shoulders. "Deacon." She starts to say. He continues kissing her. She is able to catch her breath for a moment as he kisses her neck. "What has gotten into you?" she asks as she lets out a moan from feeling his hot breath on her neck. "You got under my skin, Ray." He replies as he walks her over to the couch in the dressing room. They end up making love.

They return to the tour bus shortly after to head home. They can't stop looking at each other. Once they arrive in Nashville, they head their separate ways. Deacon returns home to Stacy. She greets him at the door with a long passionate kiss. "Welcome home. I hope you're not too tired tonight. Su and I have been waiting for you." Deacon smiles feeling guilty for not being honest with her. She leads him to the bedroom. Deacon doesn't want to stir up anything but he knows he has to be honest at some point. He allows her to take advantage of him.

In the morning, Deacon rolls over to face Stacy who can't erase the smile off her face. "Morning." She says in a cheerful voice. He smiles back at her. "What time is it?" he asks. "Time for me to show you how much I love you again and again and again." She says smiling as she kisses him. They stay in bed for another hour. They get up and she makes him a cup of coffee. She feeds Su. The dog finishes his food and Stacy sits on the floor to pet him. The dog kisses her face. "You're gonna give me kisses? Oh that's a good boy. Your daddy likes to give me kisses too. Yes he does. We love him don't we baby? Yes we do." She says as she rubs the dog's head. Deacon decides to sit on the floor next to her and pets the dog too. "I love you." He replies to Stacy. She smiles and kisses him. "Marry me." He says not thinking before the words spilled out of his mouth. "What? Are you serious?" she asks. He fakes a smile. "Okay." She agrees as she returns to kissing him. All of a sudden he regrets the words that slipped out of his mouth.

Deacon's cell phone rings. "I got it. I got it." Stacy says as she jumps over him to grab his phone. Deacon stands up. His face falls faint. He's praying it's not Rayna. "Hello?" she says. "Maddie! It's so good to hear from you. I have exciting news to share." Deacon reaches for his phone before Stacy can say another word but she holds up her finger and continues. "Your father proposed this morning! I know I couldn't believe it either." Stacy starts pacing while she continues talking to Maddie. Deacon sits on the couch. He thinks about what just happened. How was he going to take it back? She was so excited.

After Stacy hangs up the phone, Deacon gets ready for his recording with Juliette. He arrives at the studio and they go into the sound booth. The producers are sitting on the other side of the glass listening to them and giving them cues. They hear a door open behind them. In walks Rayna. "I'm sorry, Ms Jaymes, we're recording right now." The producer says as he holds up his hand to stop them from singing. Rayna walks over to the sound board and presses a button so Juliette and Deacon can hear her. "Deacon Claybourne I need a word with you." She does not sound happy. He lowers his head knowing he's about to get an earful. "Excuse me." He says to Juliette as he starts to leave the sound booth. "No, this is my recording session." Juliette hollers after him. He keeps walking.

Rayna leads them out to the hall. "What in the world do you think you're doing? I have to hear from our 13-year-old daughter that you're engaged not even 12 hours after we slept together." Deacon was speechless. He could see how hurt she was. How much he hurt her. "I'm sorry." Was all he could say. "Do you even love her?" She asked. "Yes." He replied. The one little word stung Rayna. "So what happened yesterday and what happened on the plane. That was just a fling? Something you had to get out of your system before you commit yourself to one woman?" Deacon heard the door behind him open. "Are we recording this song today or what?" Juliette asked impatient. "Can we discuss this later?" he asked Rayna. Rayna turned on her heels and walked away. "Rayna." He yelled after her but she kept walking down the hallway.

Rayna made her way out to the parking lot. She saw Stacy walking towards her. "Hey do you know how I get into this place? I wanted to surprise Deacon. He said I should listen to country music more and what better time than when he's recording right?" she asked giddy. Rayna glared out her. She was not in the mood for Stacy's happiness right now. She looked down at Stacy's left hand. "Where's your ring? I heard ya'll got engaged." Stacy shrugged her shoulders. "The ring will come later I'm sure. It was an in the moment kind of thing." Rayna lifted her eyebrows. "Oh I bet it was." Stacy looked at her confused as Rayna continued to talk. "I'm surprised you said yes." Stacy piped up. "We love each other. Why wouldn't I say yes?" Rayna starts laughing. "You must really love him if you're willing to stick by him after he told you about us." Stacy rolled her eyes. "Just get to the point Rayna. What are you trying to say?" Rayna loved having the upper hand right now. She was hurting so bad, she wanted to bring Stacy down with her. "Clearly Deacon hasn't been very honest with you like he said he was going to because I was with him yesterday." Stacy wrinkled her forehead as if she knew everything and wondered why Rayna was wasting her time. "I knew about that. You did a music video yesterday. You're bound to be together. You make music." Rayna tried to fight back the tears. "Oh we made more than music. We made love. It's always been like that with Deacon and I." She continued. "I'm assuming he also forgot to mention the steamy kiss we shared in the bathroom on the plane coming back home from San Diego."

Inside, they decided to take a break. Deacon was hoping to catch Rayna before she left. He made his way out to the parking lot where he saw Rayna and Stacy in a serious conversation. "You're making this up because you can't stand to see him happy with someone else. I know all about the love story of Deacon Claybourne and Rayna Jaymes but it's over. He's moved on. Time for you to do the same." Stacy said. Deacon knew the conversation was about him. He walked over cautiously. Rayna rolled her eyes, still trying to hold back tears. "What's going on here?" he asked. "Shouldn't you be inside recording?" Rayna asked. "I came looking for you after you walked off." He replied. "I came here looking for answers and I got them so enjoy your fiancé." She started to walk away but Deacon grabbed her arm to stop her. "Deacon let her go." Stacy said. "Damnit Rayna." He yells in frustration before releasing his grip. Once he has released his grip she walks away. He watches her until she get into her car and drives off.

Deacon and Stacy return home that night. "So what she told me, that's all true? You slept with her?" Stacy asked. "Yeah." Deacon admits. Stacy starts to walk away from him. "Stacy, wait. There's something you need to understand." She turns to face him. "I love you, I do. My relationship with you is far less complicated than the one I had-" he pauses. "Have with Rayna." He corrects himself. "And that's what I love about you. You don't try to complicate things. You're an amazing woman and one day you'll be an amazing wife." He takes a deep breath. "But I can't deny my feelings for Rayna. Every time I'm around her I can't help but act on impulse. I haven't been sleeping because she's all I dream about and that's not fair to you." He looks at her knowing he's hurt her too. "I don't know why I thought I could replace her. I see the way that you look at her. You have a history with her. God I'm so dumb." She burst into tears. "No, you're not dumb. You are so smart and so attractive. You deserve better than me and all my baggage with Rayna." He hugs her. "I'll pack up my stuff." She informs him. "I'm sorry." He says. She walks away to pack.

A couple weeks goes by and Rayna and Deacon are scheduled to attend the premiere of their music video. Tandy arrives at the house to watch the girls so Rayna is able to attend. She walks in and finds Rayna sitting on the couch with her knees up to her chest. "Hey Sweetie. Why aren't you getting ready?" Tandy asks. "I'm not going." Rayna replies. "This is your song you've been excited about getting out there. You should go." Tandy reassures her. "Deacon is going to be there with his fiancé and I made a fool out of myself last time I saw them." Tandy wrinkled her nose. "Deacon is engaged?" Rayna nodded her head. "Then you need to go. You need to show him what he's missing. Come on, I'll help you pick out a drop dead gorgeous outfit." She took Rayna by the hand and went upstairs to her closet.

Although Rayna wasn't into going, she decided it would be best for her career if she made an appearance. She arrived late and Deacon was already there. She walked in the door and he was the first person she saw. He started walking towards her. She saw Bucky out of the corner of her eye and she walked over towards him to avoid Deacon. They took their seats as Marshall made his way onstage. "Thank you all for coming tonight. We've had the pleasure of working with two very talented people over the past two decades." Deacon sat across the room from Rayna trying to get her attention. He wanted to talk to her but every time he tried she would do her best to avoid him. She was relieved that Stacy wasn't there with him but she couldn't help but feel uncomfortable. The lights dimmed and they played the music video. Watching themselves be so close on screen made Rayna's heart race. The video truly symbolized their past and their love for one another. She sighed wishing it was more than just a memory. She knew most of the blame was on her. She married Teddy all those years ago. Even though she never loved Teddy the way she loved Deacon, she now knew how much she hurt Deacon. She was hurting the same way knowing he was going to marry Stacy.

The music video ends and Rayna glances over to where Deacon had been sitting. The house lights come up and Deacon is gone from his seat. She scans the whole room and doesn't see him. She decides to step out and get some air. She opens the door and sees Deacon sitting on the steps of the theater. He looks up and notices her. "Hey." She feels her heart racing. She doesn't say a word back. "Look, I know that I hurt you. I can't forgive myself for what I've put you through these last few weeks and I don't expect you to forgive me either." She sits down next to him. Tears stream down her face. "I want you to be happy." He grabbed her hand. "Just answer me one question, Deacon. Why? Why did you lead me on like that?" He looked at her and sighed. "You're like an addiction to me, Ray. You're all I ever think about and dream about and this is one addiction I don't ever want to fight." He pauses and then continues. "I've tried so hard to fight this thing and I can't. That's why I had to break things off with Stacy because I just want to be with you." She sees the sincerity in his eyes. "I love you." He leans in and kisses her. "I love you too." They stand up and he leads her to his car where he drives to them to his cabin and they make love.


End file.
